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BANK RECEIVER ABSOLVES
LORIMER OF CROOKEDNESS
William C. Niblack, vice president
Chicago Title & Trust Co., was a wit
ness in Lorimer bankwreck trial yes
terday and in his testimony went
about as far as a witness in his posi
tion could toward giving Lorimer a
clear and clean whitewash of all
blame for any crooked work.
The whole blame for the bank
wreck was loaded onto the shoulders
of Charles Munday, the bank's vice
president, recently convicted with
five-year state's prison sentence.
According to Niblack, Lorimer
"made mistakes," but he never had
a hand in "any crooked or dishonest
transaction," Also, according to
Niblack, the crooked and dishonest
work was all done by Munday, who
ran tne bank wnue Lionmer was
busy in politics and "stole it blind,"
"robbed it to death."
For a day and a half Hayden Bell,
ass't state's att'y, had taken Witness
Niblack through the bankruptcy
tangle, and Niblack was showing that
from top to bottom the bank was run
reckless and rotten. It was a busted
bank months before closed.
Att'y Albert Fink for Lorimer then
took the witness for cross-examination.
A shock of surprise ran through
the courtroom when the lawyer
asked bluntly what was the cause of
the failure of the bank, and Witness
Niblack, vice president of Chicago
Title & Trust Co., hesitated and then
slowly spoke these words:
"One Charles B. Munday, vice-president,
stole it blind. He robbed it to
death. That's the truth of the mat
ter, if you want to know."
Fink took it slow and easy and
asked:
"In going over all the transactions
of the bank, did you find any crooked
or dishonest transaction in which
Senator Lorimer participated? Was
thete' anything to show he took part
ja anv siiiff transaction"
And the vice president of the Chi
cago Title & Trust Co., answered:
"Not a thing." ,
"Your figures show that Larimer's
concerns got $933,000," Niblack told
Prosecutor Bell. "I've heard that he
didn't get all the money for which the
notes of his enterprises are in the
bank. But I don't say Lorimer didn't
get money out of the bank. I don't
say that he didn't make mistakes. I
just said that he didn't do anything
crooked."
Altogether it was about as
thorough and clean a piece of char
acter testimony as any witness has
offered in behalf of an accused man
in Cook county lately. The surprise
element in Niblack's testimony comes
through the fact that he has been re
ceiver for the wrecked bank nearly
two years now, has made hundreds
of public statements, but until yes
terday there was nothing from him
to indicate a positive belief that Mun
day is a thief while Lorimer is the
honest man, innocent and wronged.
o o
TELLS GAS CO.'S TO ADVERTISE
OLD STUFF HERE
Just so surely as the gas industry
has been hindered unjustly by de
structive publicity, so surely will the
ill effects be overcome in future by
a general policy of constructive ad
vertising. That is what John Lansley said in
his speech yesterday at the 12th an
nual convention of the Illinois Gas
ass'n, Hotel Sherman. Lansley was
urging gas companies to buy more
advertising space in daily newspa
pers. Lansley is wasting time by giving
the tip in Chicago, as the People's
Gas Light & Coke Co. long ago saw
the ease with which the good will of
newspapers could be purchased
through sufficiently large advertising
contracts. The People Gas has late
ly been one of the heaviest users of
advertising space in loop dailies since
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